


Family dinner

by Zoya113



Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Hurt and comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2020-07-10 00:34:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19896943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoya113/pseuds/Zoya113
Summary: Emma’s parents bug her into having a messy family dinner so they can meet Paul.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> God I love found family tropes

“If it was up to me you’d never meet my parents,” Emma growled, shifting back and forth on her feet at her parent’s doorstep. She hesitated to ring the doorbell.

“Nervous?” Paul asked, rubbing her back. 

Emma didn’t answer. “What about you?” 

“Well ‘meeting the parents’ usually occurs earlier in the relationship so I’m not too scared about getting their approval, I guess, but I’ve heard you say some bad things about them,” he smiled nervously. “They can’t ban me from seeing you, right?”

Emma sneered. “They better not even try.”

Paul pressed the button to the doorbell, “it was nice for them to make the effort to see you again though, right?” 

“No.” Emma shrugged. “There’s gotta be some sort of motive behind this. They were bugging me for weeks.”

“Maybe not,” Paul gave her one last hopeful look as footsteps sounded down the hall behind the front door. 

“Emma, darling!” Emma’s mother had an excitable voice and she recoiled. Her mother pulled her in for a tight hug that Emma didn’t quite consent to. 

“And you must be Paul,” her mother turned to him next. “It’s lovely to finally meet you. Come in! Come in!” She turned on her heels and lead the way inside. 

Paul squeezed Emma’s hand. “Feeling alright?” 

“Jesus christ,” Emma sighed. “This dinner is gonna last forever.” 

Their dining table was already prepared and Emma’s father was sitting at the head. He let out a happy cheer upon seeing Paul and Emma, gesturing them to take a seat at the table. 

“Dad, this is Paul, Paul this is my dad.”   
They shook hands cordially as Emma sank into her chair.

Her mother was busy pouring drinks and serving plates and her father didn’t say much. She caught Paul’s eyes scanning the fake-happy family photos on the wall and she moaned. 

“It took us forever to find a day neither of you were busy,” her mother began.   
“Oh Paul, you must know how hectic her life is. It was always ‘I’m working on Friday, Paul’s out on Tuesday!’ Busy, busy, busy, but certainly not busy enough if she has the time to fly off to Guatemala, yes?” Her mother laughed again and Emma could feel her cheeks reddening. 

Paul stammered, not quite sure how to reply to the backhanded comment. 

“And she was like that as a child too!”

Emma could feel a headache coming on. 

“Always going out at night, always too busy for her family. The second she turned eighteen she was off! She left us all alone for ten years! It’s just so lovely to have her back here in Hatchetfield with us. We’re very happy with everything she’s been doing here.”

“Wow, that’s the first time you’ve said that,” Emma chuckled quietly, resting her elbows on the table and putting her forehead in her hands to avoid making eye contact. 

“Getting a well paying job, going to university, just like her sister, right?” Her mother turned to her father with a never-ending smile. 

At the same time Paul turned to Emma, his eyebrows raised in subtle shock. 

‘I know, right?’ Emma mouthed. “She’s extra,” she whispered.

“No! I’m talking about the other part! Did you lie to them?” He whispered. “I’d hardly call Beanies a well paying job.” 

“A little,” she mumbled. “Just don’t call me out.”

Her mother handed out her finished plates, Paul seemed a little surprised to have had his plate made up for him but he gave a gracious thanks before starting to eat. “So um,” he began, but clearly had nowhere for that sentence to go, his eyes fell back down to his dinner and he continued eating. 

“We’re both so happy that she’s found a lovely young man like you! You know, after Jane was married and we still hadn’t heard anything from Emma we were starting to think she’d never settle down!” 

Emma rubbed her forehead, bothered. “Hah, yeah. Well, I love Paul, he’s great. I’m glad you guys finally got the chance to meet him in the end.”

“You know,” Emma’s father leant across the table to talk to Paul. “We were starting to think something was wrong with her! Never spoke to any boys growing up, always hanging out with girls. She was into theatre, always putting on these plays with her friends. She wanted to be an actor on broadway! It’s great she’s finally decided to do something sensible with her life.” 

“Well, y’know, Musicals really aren’t the way to go,” Paul forced a laugh and Emma could see the fear in his eyes as he finally realised just how awful her parents could be.

Emma bit her lip impatiently, starting to wolf down her dinner in hopes of getting out of there early. “Glad to hear that, dad,” she added sarcastically. 

Her dad only laughed in reply. 

Perfect - they hadn’t even been here ten minutes and her father was already being casually homophobic. 

“She was taking theatre or something while Jane was taking all her sciences and maths, isn’t it great that she’s finally studying something good? Biology was one of Jane’s favourites.” 

“One of my favourites too, mum,” Emma put in, not even sure her parents were listening. They were both too busy bombarding Paul with things he probably wasn’t too happy hearing. 

His face was that awkward shade of red it got when he was getting uncomfortable, his smile was twitching impatiently but he just nodded along. 

“She’s going to be a doctor,” her mother smiled, somewhat genuinely this time. 

“Oh,” Paul laughed at that, biting down on his dinner to fill his mouth and tearing his eye contact away from her mother. “Yeah, she’s studying Bio to be a doctor.” 

“It’s a great turn out, we’re very proud of you Emma darling. As a kid you were, hah!” Her mother didn’t even finish that sentence as if it was too much to get into. 

Paul took a small bite of the meat on his plate. “Mhm.” 

“What do you mean, mum?” Emma had the nerve to ask. “As a kid I was what?” 

“Oh you know,” her mother simply answered, shooting her a quick look that she knew meant ‘don’t make a scene.’ 

“I remember one night she was invited to one of her friend’s eighteenth birthday party. She was out so late! It ended at about midnight and she expected a ride home, she got so mad when we refused to pick her up but you know, discipline is very important!”

“The party ended at three, actually,” Emma spoke up quietly. “I came home early because you asked me to.”

“Hah, I wouldn’t call quarter to one early,” her dad pointed out. 

“Well I had to walk home,” Emma tried to say but her mum cut her off with another jarring laugh.

“But tell us about you, Paul!” 

“I work in IT,” Paul told them. He didn’t have much else to say about himself. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to tell them actually. The way they were making fun of Emma was a bit relentless. “I have for a couple years. I met Emma at...” he paused. 

“Our friends set us up,” she cut in. 

As far as her parents were concerned she was not working minimum wage at a shitty coffee joint anymore, she was working as an intern in a fancy office while she was finishing her Biology degree. And that meant Beanies was off the list of topics. 

“It was at a nice restaurant,” Paul added, his eyes darting to meet Emma’s for approval of their shared lie. “Yeah.” 

Neither of the two made any move to elaborate. 

“Well we should all just be grateful we’re here right now. What do you think of dinner? Is it okay? Do you like it?” 

“Yeah, it’s lovely! Home cooking is always great. It’s very tasty.” 

“I’m glad. We’re so happy you could join us for it.”

Emma chuckled helplessly. “Mum, fuck, can you stop saying that?” She asked. 

“Language, Emma.” 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that. I just meant like, can you cut it out?” 

“Cut what out, Emma?” 

“Just, you’re starting all your sentences with ‘We’re so happy’ and ‘we’re so glad.’ It’s like, hah, I dunno. Really funny.”   
Emma’s thumbs works feverishly on her temples, rubbing small circles into her forehead to soothe herself. 

“Oh,” her mother laughed but with a hint of warning. “Paul, you’ll have to forgive her. Even as a child she’s always been a bit-“

“And that too,” Emma wrung her hands. “It’s always ‘as a child she was this’ and ‘as a child she was that.’”

“Well there isn’t much else to talk about considering you were off in the middle of nowhere for half your life!” Her father raised his voice and she immediately dropped silent. 

“Uh, Guatemala,” Paul corrected, breaking the silence. 

“Can you excuse me for a minute?” Emma stood up from the table and hurried off towards her bedroom. 

Her hands reached for her phone in her pocket and the second she shut her door behind her she called Hidgens. 

She sat down on her bed. Her room was left untouched when she moved out. It was a snapshot of the past. There were old diaries on her desk and photos on the wall. She scanned her old room nervously as she waited for the professor to pick up. 

She hated the way her stomach was curling up inside her. She never felt brave or confident or happy around her parents as a child and even now they were making her miserable. 

“Ah, hello dear!” Hidgens’ voice brought her back from her thoughts. “Sorry, I was just in the lab, how are you?” 

“Hi Hidgens,” she began. “Uh,” her voice caught and she was surprised how choked up she was all of a sudden. “Can you just talk to me for a bit? What’re you doing in the lab?” 

“Is everything okay, Emma?” 

“Yeah, I’m just like, I was just wondering what you were up to,” she couldn’t get a grip on her words. She lay down on her bed, not comforted by its familiarity in the slightest. 

“Well not much, unfortunately. I’m doing some tests on photosynthesis with my plants. Just a bit of fun I suppose.” 

“I have a question,” she started, biting the inside of her cheek. 

“Of course, what can I do for you?”   
“Is it disappointing to you that I’m just taking Bio so I can learn how to grow pot?”

“It’s funny but not disappointing, I’m just so proud that you’re willing to learn in the first place! Is something wrong tonight dear?” 

“I’m at a family dinner,” she admitted quietly. “My parents bugged me into letting them meet Paul,” she fiddled with a curl of her hair. “They’re giving me all kinds of shit. No wonder I avoided them for so long.” She froze as she heard footsteps outside her door. 

“Do you want me to pick you up?” Hidgens asked without any hesitance. 

“What? Oh, no! It’s okay, but thanks. Just wanted to make sure you don’t think I’m a fuck up like my parents do,” she joked, lowering her voice incase her parents were listening in. 

“Oh Emma dear, of course not! Do you want to have a make up dinner tomorrow? I can cook a nice dinner for you two and pretend I’ve never met Paul and tell him all the great things about you.” 

Emma laughed, wiping away a tear brewing in the corner of her eye. “Wow, thanks Hidgens. That’s really nice. I-“   
there was a knock at the door. Her whole body ran cold. “I gotta go, I’ll call you later.” She hung up and tucked her phone into her pocket, hurrying to open the door as she formulated an excuse in her head.   
“Sorry, I just had to-“

“You left me hanging out there with your parents.” It was just Paul. He wore an understanding smile and slowly invited himself into her room. “So this was 2010 Emma, huh?” 

Emma nodded, watching his eyes carefully to judge his reaction. 

“Oh cool! Look, Brigadoon! And that’s you!” He picked up a framed cast photo on her desk, pointing at her in the front row.

“I forgot I had that,” she rubbed her neck, taking it from Paul’s hands and placing it flat down on the table. “Don’t know why it’s still here. I should’ve thrown it out ages ago.”

“Is this about your parents bashing on your theatre group?” Paul asked, still exploring her room. 

“Oh yeah, sorry about my parents. They’re sort of assholes.”

Paul gave a joking shudder. “Yeah, your father really just dropped that whole ‘we thought something was wrong with her’ as if it was the most casual thing in the world! I was like, ‘welp, shit. This is gonna be a great night.’”

“I should’ve just never answered their messages,” Emma groaned. “They’re really fucking awful sometimes.” 

“It’s okay. I can get why you have to lie about being a doctor and everything. They were really digging into you back there. I had no clue what to say.” 

Emma’s face was red with a mixture of anger and embarrassment. “I didn’t lie about you though.”

“Huh?”

“Well, I told them I was studying to be a doctor and that I worked in an office and that I have just like, a bunch of friends. An unbelievable, uncountable amount that are always busy and can never come by for dinner.” 

Paul chuckled. “Well Hidgens is pretty tall, he could always be two really small people in a trench coat. Ever thought of that?” 

Emma shook her head, rubbing her teary eyes as she giggled. “But I didn’t lie about you. I told them everything about you, I feel like there’s nothing I have to hide or cover up about you, y’know?” 

“That’s sweet, Em. I’m glad.” He took her hands in his. 

“And I hope you get how important that is,” she huffed. “My parents think I work with four seperate charity organisations I have to lie that much. I’ve told them so many lies that my name isn’t even Emma anymore!” She tried to joke. 

“Well I’m glad they talked you out of Broadway at least,” Paul said sheepishly. “Not that it would’ve been a problem, it’s just that I never would’ve met you.” 

Emma tucked her head into his chest, listening to his heartbeat. “Hah, because you don’t like musicals. I get it.”

“I’m glad you aren’t working in some fancy high end office either. I’m glad you’re right where you were and you are exactly who you are.” He gave her a tight hug. “Come on, let’s go get this dinner out of the way and then we’re out of here. I’m thinking we go straight home, eat some ice cream and go straight to bed. Get this day over with.” 

“Sounds fucking perfect.”


	2. A real family dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma gets a second chance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi ! So this wasn’t gonna be a two piece originally but there was a request and I had it sitting in my drafts so I finished it up, I’m planning on finishing my other fic and posting it tomorrow night but everything went to shit today lmao so here’s something that made me feel better

Emma was bouncing up and down on the tips of her toes as she stood on Hidgens’ doorstep. 

She had gotten Paul ready and dressed two hours before they even had to leave, and had been prepping herself from the moment she got off work. 

“You’re pretty excited to be going to your house,” Paul joked, only teasing her because he was nervous himself. 

“You’re looking scared,” Emma elbowed him. “Don’t worry. Hidgens loves you, Paul!” 

Before she could soothe his worries, she smacked the doorbell. It chimed out a little song and when it finished they could hear Hidgens’ footsteps coming down the hall. 

As he opened it, the light from inside poured out to show off the grin on Emma’s face. “Good evening!” He started, but wasn’t able to continue when Emma launched herself at him in a hug.   
“Oofh!” He grunted as the air was taken out of him, but managed to give her a pat on the back. 

As he tried to get Emma to calm down, Paul breathed in the smell of the home-cooked dinner, his stomach rumbling. 

He had gotten Emma off him, holding her by his side. She was still wriggling in his grasp, like an excited puppy trying to kiss everyone. “What a lovely dress, Emma dear!” 

Paul followed Emma inside quietly, smiling at the big grin on her face. “Hi,” he chuckled. 

“Oh welcome, young man!” 

“This is Paul! My boyfriend!” Emma pretended to introduced them.

Paul and Hidgens shook hands and he couldn’t help but laugh at how serious Emma was about this family dinner re-do. 

“Well it’s lovely to meet you Paul for the very first time,” Hidgens gave him a firm pat on the back. “I’m Professor Hidgens.”

“And you too, sir. Paul Matthews.” 

“Emma Matthews, hm,” Hidgens murmured under his breath loud enough for them both to hear. “It sounds lovely.”

Emma watched their exchange closely, an ecstatic smile on her face. Once she was satisfied she ushered them on to the dinner table.

“Thank you for joining us in our home for dinner tonight Paul. I’m so happy Emma has found the right person for her,” he smiled affectionately down at her, ruffling her hair with one hand. “I’ve heard all about you, but I have never been as lucky to meet you!” 

“Yep, not even once!” Paul joked. “But it’s good I’m finally meeting her father.” 

His cheeks always reddened at that title, and he gave Emma another pat on the back. “Yes, while some might say maybe she took her time,” he lowered his voice down so they knew he was blaming Emma’s dad, “I wasn’t worried that a girl as charming as my Emma wouldn’t meet anyone. And of course,” he raised one finger, “even if she didn’t want a relationship, I’d love her regardless.” 

Paul nodded, he couldn’t get enough of Emma’s smile. She could barely contain herself. 

“Now, Emma told me the story of how you two met, but she loves it so much! Why don’t you tell it Paul?” 

Emma laughed, always flattered at his attempts to be the perfect father. 

“I’m a regular at Beanies,” Paul started. 

“And he always orders black coffee, and he was always really awkward when he was talking to me and-“

“Emma,” Hidgens cooed. “I know your side of the story. Paul was speaking, dear.” 

Emma giggled, fussing with her hair and rubbing her eyes. “Let’s eat!” She told them, to buzzed to sit still.

Hidgens glanced up at Paul, and he nodded. “Alright then! Dinner time it is!” He pushed his chair out. “How does pork roast sound?” 

“That’s great, professor!” He had been hungry for a while now. Emma didn’t want him eating a late lunch in case he got too full to try Hidgens’ cooking.

“Perfect.” He walked over to the oven, slipping on a pair of oven mitts to pull a tray out of the oven. “Emma dear, will you help me set the table for our guest?”

Emma jumped up, busing plates and cutlery and glasses back and forth from the kitchen to the table. 

And Paul realised as she danced around the chairs, laying down his placemat and his dishes, that it was in an effort to tire her out. 

When she sat down, she was finally sitting still. “Thanks for doing this, you guys,” she whispered like she was trying to keep her break of character from her excitement. “Not everyone gets a second chance at a family dinner.” 

“Oh, it’s not a problem my dear,” Hidgens spoke softly to her. 

“This one is going way better than last night,” Paul added.

Emma shook her head to hush him. “Okay, okay, shh! Back to it, back to it!“ she straightened her back to take her first bite of dinner. 

“Well Paul, let me tell you a little bit about Emma! She’s a great student, top of the class. She’s always so busy with her study but it pays off!” He explained. “And she enjoys it, don’t you?” 

“Most of the time,” Emma admitted. “I like it when you teach us. It’s no fun catching up on notes myself.” 

“Lovely student,” Hidgens patted her   
back. “No one you can compare her to!” 

“Oh yeah, she’s busy alright,” Paul nodded, watching her tuck her head to her chest to hide her embarrassment. “She works so, so hard.” 

In a way, tonight was all about making Emma feel better about everything. 

“But how are you professor! Have you been looking after yourself?” 

Hidgens gave a tired laugh, his hand wrapping around Emma’s shoulder. “I’m lucky enough to have someone to keep me in line when I get too busy.” 

Emma beamed. “Someone has to, right?” She elbowed him. “Speaking of which, you should get a bit more on your plate. You’ve been working all day, I know you haven’t had time to eat yet.” 

“Well we’ll see how we go, dear.” 

Paul liked the way he spoke to her much more than the way her parents had. It was like he always had a life lesson to teach, he was always finding the opportunity to share something with her outside of the classroom and Emma was quite fond of that. 

“So, how does something like this happen?” Paul finally asked. “How did you two meet? It’s not everyday you get adopted when you still have parents is what I’m trying to say.” 

They both took in another mouthful of food as if they were avoiding answering the question. 

“Uh, I heard she brought you groceries once,” Paul added, hoping one of them would pick it up from there. 

“Just happened,” Emma shrugged. “I dunno. He’s just like my best friend. Sometimes when things get tough and someone’s there to look after you, you just sort of click, right?” Her words sounded forced and stiff as if she couldn’t quite find the words to explain it. 

“Yeah, Em,” Paul started to shift away from that question, it wasn’t making her comfortable. “You’re right, it’s great to have someone look after you, and Hidgens is great like that.”

“It’s just luck, right?” She perked up as they moved away from that question. “This is just a nice, family dinner. How do you like the pork?” 

Paul nodded, giving her an apologetic look. “It’s really good, Professor.”

“Well I thought I’d make Emma’s favourite, it’s a big night for her! Why I’d say, almost as big as award night!” 

“Hidgens,” Emma let out a playful whine. 

Paul already knew this story, he had attended the award ceremony himself to support her.

“A few months back, we had a ceremony down at the community college to award all the hard workers. It helps give the kids a bit more motivation. There’s a lot of stigma around going to community college so the kids like it. Emma loved it!”

“Did she?” Paul could very vividly remember her prideful eagerness that day. 

“Yes! She won the Biology award of course. She has an almost perfect record! Straight A’s!” Hidgens lifted his cup in a cheers motion. 

“Okay, enough about me,” Emma shook her hands. “Um,” her expression broke into a more somber smile. “You guys don’t need to lift me up like this, I’m happy to just be here with you guys.” 

“Well I think we both just want you to be happy,” Hidgens cleared his throat, placing a hand down on top of Emma’s. “Dear, it wasn’t exactly nice of your parents to back you into a corner to get you over for dinner, just so they could see Paul.” 

Emma shook her head, silent as she stared down at the floor. 

“I know you felt like you had to,” Paul put in. 

Hidgens and Paul shared a quick look to ensure they were testing Emma too much. 

“So many children in this world feel like they can safely introduce their parent to their parents, but it isn’t always like that,” the professor’s hand landed on her back to provide some comfort.

Her face was starting to twitch at the topic, her eyes shutting. 

“You were lucky enough to have a second family but unfortunately, well, Paul and I met under... unconventional circumstances. And it’s unfair you didn’t get the chance that so many others do.” 

“It’s okay,” Emma mumbled, sipping at her water so she didn’t have to say anything else. “It’s fine.” 

“Emma, you deserve this.” Paul leant across the table to hold Emma’s arm.

“We all deserve a second chance,” Hidgens told her, and he hoped she believed him. “You know what the bright side to all of this is, Emma?” 

“What?” Her eyes rolled over to him, but she didn’t move her head. 

“There’s no other reason for you to ever need to talk to your parents again. They’ve made the choice to miss out on your milestones but I haven’t dear. I’ll be here for you.”

“Yeah, Emma, it’ll all be okay.” Paul wasn’t the best with words. “You don’t have to pretend with me that your family is fine. They make you really uncomfortable, and I just love you so much, I can’t put you through that! I don’t think you’re weird for having a new family, I’m actually really happy for you,” he offered up a small, loving smile. 

Emma raised her head from her glass to look at it before swivelling over to look at Hidgens, who gave her the most paternal smile. 

She opened her mouth to speak but only a wail came out as she began to cry. 

Hidgens and Paul jumped from their chairs to her side, trying to find out what was wrong. But under all her tears, she was smiling again. “You guys keep trying to tell me I’m not lucky,” she sobbed, rubbing her hands over her eyes.

“Well dear! That’s okay! It’s fine! Some people just aren’t as lucky, and that’s not a problem!” 

“Luck is just a concept!” Paul offered up, a bit more panicked than Hidgens. 

“No, that’s not it,” she took her hands away from her wet eyes for just long enough to grab on to both of their hands.  
“It’s the opposite, I am lucky,” she sniffled. “Lucky to have both of you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone was interested I was just making a small group chat for people in this tag on instagram, just let me know if you’re interested !


End file.
